


How to Be a Good Husband

by phoenixwings



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Bad Relationship Advice, Established Relationship, Fluff, Insecure Victor Nikiforov, M/M, Post-Canon, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, pre-wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 08:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10510029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixwings/pseuds/phoenixwings
Summary: They’re flying out to Japan in three days, and most of their friends are following after that. Caterers have been booked, flower arrangements have been picked, flight tickets for all their friends scattered across the globe have been purchased (most on Victor’s credit card).Everything is ready, except for Victor himself. His first problem is that he still hasn’t written his vows.His second problem is that he is freaking out.It’s not that he’s having second thoughts about getting married — Victor’s never wanted anything as much in his life as he wants to marry Yuuri, he’d trade all his gold medals and wealth for the privilege of being Yuuri’s husband — but he has no idea how tobea husband.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Because Yuuri isn't the only one with insecurities.

Victor scurries into their bedroom with his laptop, clutching a Moleskine notebook to his chest. His secretiveness is unnecessary, really, because Yuuri’s not even home. It’s a week before their wedding, and Mila and Yurio had insisted on dragging Yuuri out shopping for God-knows-what. Victor didn’t ask. He has learned the only thing more intimidating as a force of nature than Yuri and Yuuri together is Yuri, Yuuri, and Mila together. Victor never suspected when Yuuri moved to Russia with him that he’d hit it off with Mila, but Victor’s glad his fiancé has managed to make friends. He’s even more glad that they generally use their powers for good and not evil.  
  
Victor smiles when he thinks about how Yuuri won’t be his fiancé for much longer, even if that’s led to his current predicament. All the technical elements of their wedding are planned. It had taken them months to decide even where to hold it — St. Petersburg or Hasetsu? They had so many people in both places — but in the end, Victor had been afraid if they stayed in St. Petersburg for the wedding that someone from Yuuri’s family would have to stay behind to keep Yu-topia running. They’re flying out to Japan in three days, and most of their friends are following after that. Caterers have been booked, flower arrangements have been picked, flight tickets for all their friends scattered across the globe have been purchased (most on Victor’s credit card).  
  
Everything is ready, except for Victor himself. His first problem is that he still hasn’t written his vows.  
  
His second problem is that he is freaking out.    
  
 It’s not that he’s having second thoughts about getting married — Victor’s never wanted anything as much in his life as he wants to marry Yuuri, and he would trade all his gold medals and wealth for the privilege of being Yuuri’s husband — but he has no idea how to _be_ a husband.  
  
Victor’s not completely naive. He knows that there’s a lot of things most people pick up in their teens and early twenties that he never learned because he was too preoccupied with skating. Many of the things he’s learned over the past several years with Yuuri have been trial and error. He hasn't always known how to apologize after saying the wrong thing, or how to have a constructive argument, or how to sense when Yuuri’s anxiety overwhelmed him and he needed space. He’s learned how to do all of that with Yuuri, and he hopes that Yuuri knows, no matter what mistakes they both make, how much Victor cares for him. Victor likes to think he’s been a good fiancé.  
  
But a _husband_? Victor’s in the dark. It’s not like he’s had prime examples of good marriages all around him. He remembers, vividly, his early years with his parents, and the thing that always stands out is how distant they were with each other. They weren’t cold or mean, but there also hadn’t been any warmth or affection between them. Victor knows his parents loved him. He doesn’t know if they loved each other. Other than that, there’s really only Yakov, and Yakov is divorced.    
  
When he thinks about it, the best example he knows is Yuuri’s parents. They had been kind and welcoming of him from the beginning, and Victor knows — because they’ve told him, several times — how happy they are for him and their son. Victor recalls watching the two of them manage Yu-topia from day to day, moving seamlessly around each other like clock pieces. That’s what he wants, a partnership like that. He knows that’s what Yuuri wants too.  
  
He just doesn’t know how they get there. This is the most important thing he’s ever done, and he’s so, so afraid of messing it up. So here he is, curled up on their bed with a blank notebook and his laptop while Yuuri’s out with Yurio and Mila, trying to figure it out. He flips the notebook open to a blank page—which isn’t hard, because they’re all blank, except for the very first page that reads _**DO NOT READ THIS, YUURI KATSUKI**_ in bold sharpie strokes. Victor wrote that after he had accidentally left it on the couch and Yuuri had found it last week. Victor had managed a quite impressive leap over the arm of the couch just to get it back.  
  
“What was that?” Yuuri had asked. Victor clutched the notebook to his chest.  
  
“I’m writing my vows in it,” Victor had explained, and Yuuri’s cheeks had turned delightfully pink. Victor had been so mesmerized by Yuuri’s bashful grin at the time that Victor just had to pull him down on the couch and kiss him breathless. Victor hadn't written his vows that night as intended, but who could blame him when Yuuri had been right in front of him with his adorable blush and and long eyelashes and strong arms and —  
  
Victor shakes his head. He’s getting ahead of himself. Now is not the time. With a dramatic sigh that makes Makkachin’s ears perk up, Victor opens his laptop and types into Google _how to be a good husband._ He opens the first five results and frowns at the assumption that every husband has a wife, but he puts that aside for now. He’s here for advice, and he’ll take what he can get.  
  
_Consider her feelings_ , the first page reads. “Why else would you marry someone?” Victor mutters. He keeps scrolling. _Do half of the housework._ Victor makes a horrified noise. He would think that should be self-evident, but Yuuri’s read Victor enough of the advice forums he lurks on for Victor to know it’s more of a problem than it should be.  He glances at Makkachin, who blinks at him lazily.  
  
“I feel sorry the wife of any man who has to be told that,” Victor tells the poodle. She stretches on her side, oblivious to her owner’s dilemma.  
  
_Don’t text members of the opposite sex_. “Excuse me?” Victor says. He reads on about how the author of the article thinks that texting members of the opposite sex can lead to an affair. So. . . in their case, is the logic Victor shouldn’t text any guys? Victor glances at Makkachin again. “You think I should tell Yuuri that I won’t text any men and he shouldn’t text _anyone_ after we’re married?” Makkachin cuddles closer on the bed. Victor can’t fathom being that insecure about a relationship. Not for the first time, he’s overcome with gratitude that he’s marrying Yuuri. Victor chuckles and then shouts into their empty room, “I’M GAY,” just in case somewhere, someone with telepathic abilities is writing marriage advice that might actually be useful to him.  
  
Victor closes the tab, seeing no point in reading further. He’s so nonplussed by the horrendous advice that he needs to cleanse his mind, so he decides he needs to put some positive vibes into his online searching. He opens the Twitter app on his phone and searches for everyone’s favorite [GIF of the seal screaming “GAAAAY”.](http://i.imgur.com/IpTHX.gif) He tweets it with the caption #GPOY. Within minutes, his phone is buzzing with replies. He glances through them, all some variation of _we know. We know. Dude, we know._ Then he tweets “I LOVE YUURI KATSUKI”, which gets a similar kind of response.  
  
Victor is placated. He decides to continue on, moving to the next tab. He reads the headline “ _How to be a Good Husband and Father_ ” and blanches.  
  
“Too soon!” He tells Makkachin. “Too soon.” He decides not to read that one further. Hopefully the third tab is better than the first two. No red flags jump out at him from the headline.  
  
_Keep the lines of communication open_ , he reads. That. . . . is actually good advice. Finally. Victor takes his pen and writes, in all-caps across the top of the the page, **HOW TO BE A GOOD HUSBAND**. He considers it for a moment, then adds **TO** **YUURI KATSUKI.** He’s not interested in generalities.  
  
_Keep the romance alive_ , the next line reads. The pronouns in the paragraph are wrong, still, and the examples of “romance” make Victor laugh because he knows what Yuuri finds romantic, and it isn’t any of these cliches, but he appreciates the general sentiment. He makes a note of that too. The article definitely isn’t the worst, but the rest of it reads pretty rote and has Victor rolling his eyes.  
  
Victor stares at his growing list for a moment, then adds # _3\. Make him happy._ That’s all he really wants, isn’t it? He clicks on the last tab he has opened. He immediately recoils when he reads the opening advice, which is _Don’t care too much._  
  
“What the fuck? Nope, no, no, no, no, no,” Victor recites, shaking his head and pushing his laptop aside. He is 100% done with terrible advice on the Internet. He might not know a whole lot about marriage, but he knows he doesn’t want one like _that_. He taps his pen against the open page, sighing as he tries to organize his thoughts. His list is only three lines long, and he’s no closer to writing his vows. He shifts down on the bed, putting his arms around Makkachin and pulling the poodle closer to stroke through her fur. Thinking about how to tell Yuuri what he means to Victor is rather easy. It’s much harder for Victor to figure out how to word what he wants to promise Yuuri. 

* * *

  
Victor wakes up to a hand running through his hair. He stretches his legs and blinks up at Yuuri. Remembering what he was doing before Yuuri got home, he sits up, closes the notebook, and clutches it to his chest.  
  
“Relax,” Yuuri says with a small laugh, “I know you’re writing your vows in there.”  
  
“Vows. Right, yes,” Victor says convincingly, willfully ignoring the knot in the pit of his stomach that had led to his frantic and overall fruitless Internet search. “How was shopping with Mila and Yurio?”  
  
“About as painful as you would expect.”  
  
“Yura didn’t try to talk you into a cat print tie for next week, did he?”  
  
“No, but he did buy yet another leopard jacket. There went our idea for his birthday,” Yuuri replies. Victor laughs and leans his head on Yuuri’s shoulder. It’s warm and makes him feel drowsy, even though he just woke up from a nap. Right here, like this, it’s easy to imagine being Yuuri’s husband. It’s easy to imagine being a _good_ husband.  
  
“Victor,” Yuuri says after a few moments.  
  
“Hmm?” Victor cracks open one eye and looks at his fiancé.  
  
“Your laptop was still open when I came in.”  
  
_Oh._  
  
“Do you want to talk about it?” Yuuri asks.  
  
“About what?” Victor has a feeling he knows where Yuuri’s going, but it’s embarrassing to admit how much he’s struggling with this. How worried he is. Yuuri, for all his anxiety, seems incredibly calm and collected about the fact that their wedding is only a week away.  
  
Yuuri rolls his eyes and pokes Victor’s side. “About how you’re searching for articles on being a good husband?”  
  
Victor sighs. He remembers the first actual decent piece of advice he stumbled across, about communicating, and he knows he should tell Yuuri. He bites his lips. He’s used to being self-assured, and admitting his doubts is difficult. But Yuuri deserves his honesty.  
  
“I can’t wait to marry you,” he says, then pauses. Yuuri seems to understand he’s still thinking and just continues to pet Victor’s hair. “I'm just. . . I’m afraid I won’t know how to be a good husband to you.”  
  
“Victor,” Yuuri says, and his voice cracks slightly. He embraces Victor, and Victor lets himself be vulnerable for once. “Why would you ever think you wouldn’t be?”  
  
“I don’t know what I’m doing here,” Victor says, gesturing to his notebook. “I don’t know what a good marriage looks like.”  
  
Yuuri hums and kisses the top of Victor’s head. “That’s okay. We’ll figure it out together.”  
  
“You sound so sure.”  
  
“I am sure,” Yuuri says empathetically.  
  
“You don’t know that,” Victor says, and even to his own ears it sounds petulant and childish. He bunches the comforter in his hands, barely resisting the urge to hide his face in it. He’s seen Yuuri do it a couple of times, and now he understands the instinct.  
  
“I suppose I don’t,” Yuuri says evenly. “I don’t know what our marriage will look like. I think I have a good idea based on us so far, though. I don’t know what kind of husband you’ll be. But I trust you’ll be a good one.”  
  
Victor can’t argue with Yuuri’s faith in him. It’s too all-encompassing. He reaches for Yuuri’s hand, the one that’s not still tangled in his hair, and squeezes.  
  
“Remember the first time you saw me cry?”  
  
It’s not a memory Victor is soon to forget. That whole day from several years ago is seared into his brain, from Yuuri’s shakiness and nerves that had kicked off the morning to their first real argument to Yuuri’s beautiful free skate and their first kiss.  
  
“Of course.”  
  
“Remember what I told you I wanted?”  
  
“To just stay by you,” Victor murmurs.  
  
“That’s all I expect. That’s all I want,” Yuuri explains. Victor thinks back to the early days of their relationship, before they had words for it. The memories are fond, though he loves how in time they’ve built and grown on them together so that those early days seem at times so shallow compared to the depths of what he feels for Yuuri know. He knows they weren’t at all, but there’s something so satisfying in realizing how far they’ve come. Victor remembers so much of it. He thinks back affectionately to the conversation on the beach where Yuuri first told Victor to be himself and Victor, for the first time in many years, allowed himself to think that was okay. He also remembers Barcelona and the first time they made promises to each other, and all the days in between.   
  
Victor’s been a fool. He doesn’t know what their marriage will look like fifteen, twenty, forty years from now. He doesn’t know what depths of their relationship are left to be explored. And he’s excited for their wedding, their marriage, the rest of their lives together. But he’s been thinking of it as something big and new and overwhelming, when really want they already have has been right there in front of him all along. He can’t wait to stand in front of all their family and friends and say his vows out loud to Yuuri, but doing that isn’t going to change the promises he’s already made and upheld in his heart.  
  
The realization makes Victor burst into giggles. Yuuri startles. “Wha—”  
  
Victor pulls him down by the shirt and kisses him, rolling them over on the bed so they’re both lying on their sides. He pushes the notebook aside, knowing he’ll have time to write his vows later.  
  
“I can’t wait to be your husband,” Victor says, beaming. He tickles Yuuri’s side just to watch him laugh and squirm. Yuuri has the cutest laugh. Victor’s so in love with it. Victor’s so in love with Yuuri. He kisses the top of Yuuri’s nose. “I’m so excited.”  
  
“Me too,” Yuuri says once he’s caught his breath. “Me too.”

* * *

  
Victor picks up his journal from where it had fallen to the floor the night before. It’s a beautiful summer day, so he takes it out on to their balcony, stopping just long enough in the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. He sits cross-legged at the patio table and opens to his previous notes. He’s eager to start writing his vows, for real this time, but there’s something he needs to correct first. He starts to add a fourth item to his list, but it doesn’t belong with the others, really. It’s not that any of the things he wrote down were bad ideas, a few gems found in the mines of horrible, awful, internet relationship advice, but they don’t really get at the heart of the matter. He crosses the entire thing out, turns the page, and writes a new list with a singular item.  
  
_**HOW TO BE A GOOD HUSBAND TO YUURI KATSUKI**_  
  
_1\. Stay close to him._  
  
Victor knows the rest will follow.

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't part of a series, but there is definitely a reference to another YOI fic I've written in here. Virtual cupcakes to anyone who finds it!
> 
> I have read ALL of this marriage advice at some point or another. Yes, even the texting one. And that one did *not* come from my research of searching for bad marriage advice.
> 
> Feel free to come chat with me about YOI or anything else over on [Tumblr](https://burningphoenixwings.tumblr.com)!


End file.
